Newcastle United's U23 squad for Darlington friendly revealed

Peter Beardsley's Newcastle United Under-23 side will get their pre-season campaign underway with a trip to Darlington on Monday evening

Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, Dan Barlaser and Curtis Good are the standout names in the Newcastle United Under-23 squad who will travel down to Darlington on Monday night.

The pair made their first-team debuts in the FA Cup last season and will hope to stake their claim for a place in Rafa Benitez’s Premier League plans going forward by impressing during pre-season.

Peter Beardsley’s Under-23 side narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League 2’s top tier last season after being defeated 2-1 by West Ham United in the play-off final, but the young Magpies will hope to go one better this term.

Interestingly, however, the Newcastle Under-23 squad who will travel down to the Arena in Darlington on Monday night (7pm kick-off) will not feature new signings Stefan O’Connor and Josef Yarney.

Instead, Magpies supporters must wait to see the duo, as neither are registered as being part of the Newcastle matchday squad which has been published on Darlington’s official website.

Stuart Findlay, who made his first-team debut alongside El-Mhanni and Barlaser against Birmingham City last season, is another notable absentee.

Neither Tim Krul nor Emmanuel Riviere, both of who were left out of the Newcastle first-team squad who won 2-1 at Hearts in their opening pre-season friendly on Friday night, are expected to feature either.

Last July, a Newcastle Under-23s side featuring Haris Vuckic, Ivan Toney and Gael Bigirimana hammered the Quakers 5-1 in a pre-season friendly.

Darlington are sponsored by Virgin East Coast and the train company is offering a discount giveaway to supporters who attend the match.

According to the Quakers’ official website, Virgin staff will hand out vouchers at the match which will entitle fans to up to 30 per cent discount on the East Coast line.

Tickets for the match at the Arena cost £10 for adults and £5 for concessions.